Commonwealth Games: Performances of Indian tennis players on Thursday
A total of seven Indian contenders along with Leander Paes and Sania Mirza reached into the doubles and singles semi final round of the tennis event at the Commonwealth Games on Thursday. However, two players bundled out of the mixed doubles competition
after a shocking defeat to Scotland.
Top seed Indian from the women’s side, Sania Mirza got the better of Marina Erakovic from New Zealand in two sets to make her way into the singles semi-final round in New Delhi on Thursday. The final match score was 6-2, 6-3. The top seed Somdev Devvarman
in the men’s section, on the other hand also got past his Kiwi tennis foe, Rubin Statham in a two-setter clash on Thursday. The final match score was 6-3, 6-4.
Somdev teamed up with Rohan Bopanna to topple Greg Jones and Matt Ebden of Australia in two sets to advance into the semi-final round in New Delhi. The final match score was 7-6 (5), 6-4. Laender and Mahesh Bhupathi, who are the top seeds in the doubles
event at this season’s multi discipline Games, hammered down Joshua Goodall and James Ward of England in three sets to confirm their semi-final berth in New Delhi. The final match score was 6-2, 6-7 (4), 7-6 (4).
However, the good news for the local side was tempered by the greatest upset of the championship, as Jocelyn Rae and Colin Fleming of Scotland dispatched off hot favourite Sania Mirza and Leander Paes in two sets in the mixed doubles event at the R.K. Khanna
Tennis stadium on Thursday. The final match score was 7-5, 6-4.
Sania and Leander were contesting together on the very first occasion since the Doha Asian Games back in 2006, where they together captured the gold medal.
In the women’s doubles competition on Thursday, the unseeded pair of Poojashree Venkatesh and Nirupama Sanjeev thrashed out the second seed English duo of Anna Smith and Sarah Borewell in two sets in their quarter final round in New Delhi. The final match
score was 7-5, 6-4.
Somdev’s one hour and forty two minutes singles clash was marked by a couple of breaks by both of them, giving scary moments to a partisan Indian crowd, as it looked that the local hope would be stretched to the limit by the sixth seed contender on Thursday.
The Indian required only forty six minutes to grab the opening set after missing his serve during the third game. However, he bounced back quickly to break his foe to level the scores at 2-2.
Somdev broke Rubin again to take a lead of 4-2 with the help of a forehand winner. The players exchanged breaks once again before the Indian held.
In the decisive set, Somdev dropped a total of three match points during the seventh game while leading 5-1 and dropped his serve during the eight game on Thursday. He at last served out.
Rubin committed a total of nineteen unforced errors, two more than his Indian opponent; however Somdev was far superior in hitting winners, particularly the fore hands in New Delhi.
The Indian while commenting on his victory after the match said on Thursday, “I am glad to be in semi-final, I am happy with closing it down. The surface is a bit slow; however I am really fit thanks to my coaches.
Sania started her singles contest versus Erakovic by missing her serve in the opening game. However, it took her just sixty six minutes to triumph in the end. She broke Erakovic on two occasions in both the sets.
“I am feeling great. I knew I had to be sharp. I did not want to get her the lead as I knew how good she is. I had to keep my concentration up. I am happy I could pick up,” said Mirza after the match.
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